Weeks after my gallbladder came out I'm STILL getting pain and indigestion. Did the operation just not work, or is this something else?

Right, I'm the one who was on here in tears about the shoulder gas pain right after my keyhole op, and that all settled ages ago, thank you again. But I've got a new worry and it's a more depressing one because I thought I was done with all this. I'm now about eight weeks out and I'm STILL getting bouts of pain up under the right ribs and a lot of horrible indigestion and bloating after meals. It's not the same as the old attacks exactly, more of an ache and a burn, but it's in roughly the same place and it's really got in my head.

The whole point of the operation was to make this stop. So why am I still getting pain in the exact spot I had my gallbladder removed from? Did they leave a stone behind? Did the surgery just not work? Is it possible the gallbladder was never the problem and I've had an operation for nothing? I've read the phrase "post-cholecystectomy syndrome" which sounds terrifying and now I can't unsee it. Someone please tell me whether ongoing pain and indigestion this far out is normal settling or a sign something's actually wrong.

Deep breath. I had a stretch of this too, weeks of an achey burny feeling after eating that made me convinced the whole thing had been pointless. For me it turned out to be plain old reflux that the surgery had nothing to do with, and it calmed with some simple changes. Doesn't mean yours is the same, but "still got symptoms" absolutely does not automatically mean "the operation failed". Get it looked at rather than stewing though.

Mine actually did stop dead after the op so I can't say I had this, but the burn you're describing sounds more like indigestion or reflux than a gallbladder attack, and you don't have a gallbladder to attack anymore. Worth getting checked, don't just sit on it for months telling yourself it's normal.

Let me answer the frightening question directly first: ongoing pain or indigestion some weeks after the operation does NOT mean the surgery failed or that the gallbladder was never the problem, and it is common enough to have a name, which is the phrase you found. The large majority of people, well over 85 to 90 percent, are free of their original biliary attacks afterwards, and most who have lingering symptoms are not in a disaster. So take that on board before anything else.

Now what it actually depends on, named precisely, because "it varies" is no use to you. The important thing to understand is what the operation does and does not do. Removing the gallbladder reliably ends gallbladder attacks, but it is not a treatment for the bile chemistry or for anything else that happened to be causing symptoms in the same neighbourhood, which is the point of the site's guide to what gallbladder removal will not fix. So ongoing symptoms usually fall into a few buckets: settling and digestive change that is still resolving in the first weeks to months, a separate and very common condition like acid reflux or indigestion that was always there and is now more noticeable, or, less often, something that does need a look such as a stone left behind in the main bile duct. The umbrella term for persistent symptoms afterwards, and how it gets sorted out, is covered in post-cholecystectomy syndrome.

Here is the line that matters for you, though. An ache and some indigestion that is easing is one thing and worth reviewing without alarm. But pain that is worsening, a fever, yellowing of the skin or eyes, or dark urine and pale stools are the signs of a retained duct stone or infection, and those are a prompt, same-week or same-day assessment, not a wait. Which bucket your particular pain sits in is exactly the thing I cannot call from here. Book in with your GP or the surgical team who did your operation, because they can examine you and, if needed, check with a blood test or scan whether anything was left behind. That is the right next step, not another eight weeks of wondering.

Following this closely because I'm a few months out and get the odd twinge in the same spot too and had exactly the "did it not work" panic. Reassuring to read that still having SOME stuff going on doesn't mean it was all for nothing. Get yours checked though like they're saying, mine turned out to be nothing but I only relaxed once someone had actually looked.

Update and it's a relief. I went to my GP with the red flag list from this thread, no fever no yellowing so not an emergency, and after a chat and some tests it turns out it's reflux, completely separate from the gallbladder, and it's already settling with a small tablet and eating a bit slower. So the operation DID work, the attacks really are gone, this was just a different thing wearing the same costume in the same spot. Wish I'd known that distinction weeks ago instead of catastrophising. Thank you for talking me into getting it looked at properly.